The man in the blue shirt with the beard approached the Ask-An-Atheist table today and said that he is a Muslim from Saudi Arabia and had some questions for us.

This is the weekend after the Orlando shooting by a Muslim in the name of ISIS, so I was particularly interested in hearing what he had to say. Unfortunately, I got to hear little from him, because another person from our group (seen in the red shirt)  with a history of offending booth visitors decided to jump in with his usual long-winded sermons, full of graphic language and off-topic rants.  Even worse, he repeatedly physically touched this person, which is offensive to many, and technically a violation of the law.

2 weeks ago this same person interrupted a great discussion with 2 young Christian woman from a Christian college, who were very engaged and interested in learning about atheism — until this person stepped in with his propeller hat (not joking) with another expletive filled tirade that made our group look like a bunch of obnoxious jerks.  He’s an intelligent person and makes good points at times, but can’t seem to deliver his communication without vile language and anger.

The decidedly un-structured nature of the group has a lot of benefits, and we have a nice group of people who show up regularly and show each other respect, and show the booth guests respect.  Unfortunately, that’s not the goal for one particular

The interaction started off a bit hostile and confusing.

While sitting at the “Ask An Atheist” table, 2 men approached at the same time, so I assumed they were together.  The man in the red shirt was calm and smiling, and said he is a Christian and had some questions.

The other man, in a blue tank top seemed immediately agitated, and started in to a rant Continue reading

The man in the red hat is “AngryMan”, who has been lurking around the booth and making weird rude comments. A few months ago he threatened artists at the San Diego Maker Faire because he didn’t like their robot.

The vast majority of people who talk to us are very pleasant, even when they disagree with our cause.  After 4 years of sponsoring a weekly booth in Balboa Park, we’ve not yet had to ask that anyone be arrested.

There is a man who has approached the group on at least 4 occasions within a span of a few weeks, and made very bizarre, angry comments.  I’ve also seen him standing at a distance watching us.  I’ve taken photos of him on several occasions, so that he can be easily identified in case he does something extreme.

A few months ago at the San Diego Maker Faire here in the park, I followed him to a nearby art exhibit, where he began a shouting rank about how much he hated the art and that it’s a waste of resources, and then physically threatened the artist.

That was the last time I saw him until today, when he walked up, make some weird comments about our whiteboard, and stormed off yet again… but not before I shot another photo of him!

What odd about him is that he doesn’t seem to be religious and upset that we are calling out the claims of religion, he just seems to be angry and hateful in general.  He likes to yell “shut up” at people who have never spoken to him before.  The only good thing here is that he is very thin, always wears non-baggy clothing, and never carries anything so it’s easy to see that he’s not armed.  If he shows up with a large bag, I’m heading for the hills.

If anyone knows who he is, please contact me.